Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being in the shade of a tree beside his thatched mud hut in in Kenya’s Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.

„We are not going to let this land go even if it indicates shedding blood,“ he informed the BBC.

„Land is really essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead.“

He is one of the numerous people opposed to the creation of a big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour’s drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people in addition to globally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for permission to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become bio-diesel.

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals – goats remain well away as it is harmful. The location affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the regional council.

Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.

It has actually leased nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furnishings retailer Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

This growth has been spurred by the European Union, which has actually set enthusiastic goals for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its reliance on imported oil.

The 27 EU nations have signed up to a directive which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy ought to be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is difficult to discover 50,000 hectares of available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.

Why ‚feed‘ a cars and truck?

But project groups have identified some of the jobs in Africa „land grabs“ with dire consequences for the typically voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: „Why ‚feed‘ a car in Europe when hunger at home is still a truth?“

„Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been informed we need to move since they wish to plant jatropha curcas here,“ said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had been no offer of settlement for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the settlements are over – the federal government has actually okayed for a pilot task to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the final documentation.

The business says numerous long-term and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the task.

„We desire to secure your homes and the personal property. We will farm around the homes,“ Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

„We are assisting these people. They are extremely happy for this job. No-one will be moved.“

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government’s environment watchdog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the of the project.

„We were suggesting 1,000 hectares … We have told them to justify if the number needs to change and that is why we haven’t authorized the project already,“ said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha job to be ditched as brand-new research calls into question whether jatropha is really a greener option to oil.

The anti-poverty campaign group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to examine just how green the jatropha curcas task in Kenya’s Dakatcha woodlands would be.

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha would release between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.

This is partially since large quantities of carbon are saved in the woodlands‘ plants and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this greenery.

„The report reveals that EU policies are silly policies since they are not minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring,“ stated ActionAid’s Chris Coxon.

„The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the woodlands, driving the globally threatened Clarke’s Weaver bird to extinction and depriving thousands of regional individuals of their livelihoods,“ said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as „the most thorough and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world“.

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have actually simply been developed.

They were part funded by the European Union – the very organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which residents fear might see the school closed down.

„My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to build a classroom and after that send the pupils away,“ said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

„Yes we require tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. You require to have a home before you go to your job.“

There are plainly concerns on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven company.

Ikea says it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.

„This switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy must never ever be at the expense of people or the environment,“ Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are likewise an abundant source of product for conventional medicine.

If they feel pull down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners simply may turn to unconventional methods in a bid to keep the land.

„If all the elders come together for one objective, then it is very easy to eliminate him with our medications,“ said Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

The fate of individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan federal government and Malindi’s community council.

It is not unexpected they are worried.

Kenya’s political leaders do not have a great track record when it pertains to operating in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea